Community Garden
Dear Editor: This is year two of enormous effort and work to create a Community Garden in order to make Sitka more sustainable, allowing community members to further food security and their ability to provide for themselves.
At this time, 75% of the plots are tentatively spoken for, indicating a great need and interest. There is also proximity to the Homeless Coalition which has expressed great interest and excitement to be involved. The development of this project would be a huge boost for our community.
Despite a precedent not allowing a partial year cessation in utility payments, because the Community Garden is not a business, I would like to encourage the city to consider allowing for a seasonal exemption, so as to make the cost less prohibitive for community members most impacted by Sitka’s high cost of living. Thank you,
Toby Campbell, Sitka
Denali
Dear Editor: One would think – or at least hope – that President-elect Trump has more pressing and significant matters to concern himself with than the name of a mountain in Alaska (“Change Denali Name? Bad Idea, Alaskans Say.” Sentinel, December 27, 2024).
Just for starters: How about America’s Federal Government’s Sovereign, National Debt, now standing at $36.29 TRILLION and counting. Or that Government’s UnFunded Liabilities – money the government is committed and obligated to pay for Social Security, Medicare Parts A, B, and D, Federal Debt Held By The Public, plus Federal Employee and Veterans Benefits – of $222.16 TRILLION. See https://www.usdebtclock.org/# for details.
But reviewing William McKinley’s primary accomplishment during his presidency – victory in the Spanish-American War of 1898 and gaining control of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines – it’s not difficult at all to understand why Mr. Trump thinks that McKinley “did a good job,” and thus “deserves” to have his name back on Denali. One can only imagine what President Trump might try to accomplish so as to have some mountain someplace named after him. If not even a spot on Mt. Rushmore.
And as regards to real estate magnate Trump’s scheme to buy Greenland, one only hopes that the Native people of Greenland will have more to say about that than the Native people of Alaska had to say about the United States buying Alaska from Russia.
Jeffrey G Moebus, Sitka
Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, Retired
